Adventures In Babysitting And Other Such Endeavors
by TheLaikynVictoria
Summary: Shawn's kid, Hazel, and Gus' kid Jaylen are both sick with the flu. With Juliet and Gus at work, and Gus' wife sick as well, who does that leave to watch the ill grade-school-aged children? Why, Shawn of course.


_**A/N- Hola! So, this is gonna be a two, maybe three, shot. It's my first true fluff piece, so excuse the random cliffhanger.  
Please review! :D**_

* * *

_**Pancakes and Vomit and Justin Bieber (A Nasty Combination)**_

When Shawn woke up on this random Tuesday morning, he was not expecting to see his six-year-old daughter, Hazel, standing next to his bed. Though, he could have guessed, as he was awoken by light poking on his cheek.

"What's wrong Baby?" He asked sleepily, trying to force his eyes to stay open.

"I don't feel good, Daddy." She whimpered, and he sighed. He sat up and glanced over at Juliet's sleeping form, deciding to let her sleep. Today was her first day back at work after being off for maternity leave from their now-two-month-old son, Asher. Shawn stood up and ushered Hazel out into the hallway, closing the door gently behind them.

"What's wrong?" He asked, kneeling down in front of her.

"My throat hurts." She rasped. "And my head. And my arms and legs."

"Your arms and legs?" He repeated, and she nodded.

"Like, where they bend." She pointed to the crease of her arm and her knees. "They hurt in there." He nodded in understanding, realizing that she meant her joints were hurting.

"So, I'm no doctor," he started, picking her up, "but I'd say you have the beginning stages of the flu." When he wrapped his arm around her back, he could feel the heat radiating from her body.

"And," he added, "a fever."

"What's the flu?" She asked as he carried her to the living room. He laid her gently on the couch, pulling pillows up under her and allowing her to prop up against the arm.

"It's like a Super Cold." He told her, feeling her forehead and frowning. She was absolutely scorching. "It's like the cold, except the flu has super powers. It can make you feel even sicker than a cold."

"So it's like the bad guy in an episode of Spider Man?" She asked, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

"Yeah, exactly." Shawn grinned. "Now, you stay here while I go get the thermometer and some medicine and stuff, okay?"

She nodded, and he turned toward the kitchen. He entered the room and went to the cabinet above the sink, rifling through it until he found the thermometer and the bottle of children's Tylenol. He set them down on the counter, and then produced a rag from the drawer and soaked it in cold water, ringing out the excess before grabbing the other items and going back into the living room.

"Here you go, Sweetie." He put the cold rag on Hazel's forehead and then pulled the plastic casing off of the thermometer before sticking the digital device in her mouth. "Keep it under your tongue." After a few minutes, it beeped loudly. He pulled it out and looked at the illuminated screen that read '101.5'.

"Ugh." Shawn sighed. "Looks like ya do have a fever, Bug."

"Is it a bad one, Daddy?" She whimpered, obviously miserable.

"Not too bad." He told her, pouring some of the Tylenol into the cap. "This medicine will help, though. Open up." She begrudgingly opened her mouth and allowed Shawn to pour the sticky non-grape flavored lie into her mouth.

"It's not grape." She stated, obviously frustrated as she crossed her arms. "It's a'sposed to be grape and it's not."

"I know, it stinks, right?" Shawn asked. "I'll ask Uncle Gus if he has any medicine that is _actually_ grape flavored later, okay?"

"Do you think he'll have some?" She asked, snuggling into the couch.

"Maybe." He replied, pulling a blanket up to her waist. "Now you get some sleep, and I'll be right here." She just nodded, her eyes already closed. He leaned over and kissed her burning forehead before moving to the recliner.

* * *

Gus got out of the shower and quietly reentered his bedroom. His wife, Lily, was asleep, breathing noisily. She had come down with the flu the day before and had since taken to lying in bed surrounded by tissues, flu medicine, ginger ale, and chick flicks. He grinned slightly at her before hurriedly getting dressed. It was only 6:30, but if he wanted to have breakfast before he had to wake up his seven-year-old daughter, Jaylen, for school, he had to give himself at least an extra forty-five minutes. So after he finished getting ready, he went quietly into the kitchen to prepare himself some food. Usually Jaylen would wake up around seven and come bounding into the kitchen. So when 7:20 rolled around and not a peep was heard from her room, Gus entered it quietly. He found her still asleep, breathing just as noisily as Lily in the next room.

"Great." He sighed, his head dropping. He sat down on the edge of her bed and felt her head. Sure enough, she was burning hot. He shook her shoulder gently. "Jaylen. Jay, Baby, wake up."

"Daddy?" She moaned, opening her eyes slowly. "What's going on?"

"I need to check your temperature, okay? I think you caught Mommy's flu."

"Okay." She sat up slowly, her hand flying to her head once she was upright. "My head hurts."

"I know, Jay." He patted her arm before going and fetching the thermometer. He returned a few moments later, the device already on and ready. He stuck it in her mouth and they waited for it to beep. When it did, he removed it and looked at the reading.

"100.8." He informed her with a frown. "That's not good."

What was he going to do? He couldn't miss work today. There was a big conference on Pharmaceutical Sales in the Southwest and he was giving a talk. An idea suddenly struck him and he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He pushed the name and waited the few rings for the man to pick up.

"Hey, Shawn!"

"Hey, Buddy." Came his whispered reply. "What's going on?"

"Well, I have a bit of a favor to ask." Gus replied, glancing over at Jaylen.

"Well, _I_ have a little bit of a situation here…" Shawn muttered. "Hazel's sick, I think it's the flu. Jules has been itching to get back to work, so she's gonna take Asher to daycare and I'm gonna stay here and-"

"Well, Lily and Jaylen are both sick," Gus interrupted, "and Lily can't keep Jaylen and I _have_ to go to work today, and I don't know… Do you think you could keep her?"

"I don't see why Lily coming here would-"

"Jaylen, Shawn." Gus sighed. "I need you to keep Jaylen because Lily can't."

"I guess." Shawn replied, laughter in his voice. "Just bring her over. I'm sure her and Hazel will have fun being sick and missing school together."

"Awesome." Gus smiled. "Be there in 30. I owe you."

"Yes you do." He heard before hitting the 'end' button and pocketing the phone. He roused Jaylen from the sleep she had fallen into, telling her that she was going to Uncle Shawn's. They began gathering her pillow and blankets, deciding to just let her stay in her pajamas.

"Is Hazel gonna be there?" She asked sleepily as she stood up and grabbed her stuffed dog, Horatio.

"Yeah." Gus nodded, grabbing a 'just in case' change of clothes out of her dresser. "She's sick too."

Jaylen only nodded, hugging Horatio closely. Gus grinned sadly at her. She looked so sickly and frail.  
"Come on, Baby." Gus threw the duffel bag he'd put the clothes and bedding in over his shoulder and reached his arms out toward his little girl. She walked over to him and allowed herself to be picked up, wrapping her legs around Gus' waist and her arms around his neck, laying her head on his shoulder. He carried her down the stairs and to the Echo, placing her gently in the backseat. After going around and sitting in the driver's seat, tossing the duffel bag in the seat beside him, he pulled his phone out and texted a quick message to Lily.  
_Jaylen woke up sick. Taking her to Shawn's so I don't miss my conference. Feel better, Honeycake._

He dropped the phone in the console and pulled out of the driveway, heading towards Shawn's.

* * *

The light knock on the door woke Shawn up from his light sleep. He glanced over at Hazel, who was sleeping not so soundly on the couch, and went to the door, opening it to reveal Gus holding a sleeping Jaylen.

"Hey Shawn." He whispered, crossing the threshold and going toward the love seat opposite the recliner and catty corner from the couch. "Here?" Shawn nodded, and Gus laid Jaylen down softly. He pulled the bag from his shoulder and produced a pillow, lifting the seven-year-old's head gently and placing it underneath. Shawn, meanwhile, pulled the blanket out and unfolded it, flicking it across the girl's small frame.

"I seriously owe you one, Buddy." Gus whispered, leaning over and kissing Jaylen's forehead before going toward the door. "I haven't given her any medicine. If you could just give her some children's Tylenol, that'd be great."

"Yup." Shawn whispered back, his hand on the edge of the door. "Gotcha. I know the drill. You may have been in this game longer than me, but I know how to play it." Gus grinned,

"I have no doubt that is true, Shawn." He walked down the front walk, waving a hand over his shoulder.

"Seriously dude, Pineapple smoothies when this sickness is over and done with!" He called to him, opening the door of the Blueberry. Shawn waved as he drove away, and then closed the door gently. He turned around and faced his sleeping charges. This was going to be a long day.

After waking Jaylen to give her some medicine, he sat down in the recliner again, pulling out his phone.

_Gus just brought Jay over. She's sick too. Same as Hazel, it looks like. I got me two kids today. Great practice for when Ash is older._

He hit 'send' on his message to Jules and sighed. With them sleeping, he wasn't entirely sure what to do. Deciding not to waste the time he had while he had it, he got up and went to the kitchen to fix himself some breakfast. He prepared some pancakes and bacon, and just as he sat at the table, he heard shuffling from the doorway. He looked up to see Hazel and Jaylen watching him. Their pajamas were disheveled, their hair was flying in every direction, and bags hung under their tired eyes.

"Daddy." Hazel yawned. "I'm hungry."

"Yeah, Uncle Shawn." Jay nodded in agreement. "I'm hungry, too."

"Girls, I don't know… Shawn told them. "When you have the flu, you shouldn't eat a lot."

"We're not asking for a _lot_." Hazel shrugged, shuffling to the table and pulling a chair out, Jaylen following suit. "Just something. Maybe…"

"Some pancakes?" Jay finished. They both smiled at him, their faces contrasting. Hazel had pale skin, dirty blonde hair and bright blue eyes, while Jay had dark skin, brown eyes and jet-black hair.

"Okay." Shawn sighed. "But only a little bit, and _very_ little syrup. I don't want to be cleaning up puke."

Four pancakes and six tablespoons of syrup later, Shawn was on the floor of the living room, sponge in hand and bucket by his side, cleaning up the double dose of pancake-y vomit.

"Sorry Daddy." Hazel moaned from the couch, her arm draped dramatically over her forehead.

"We didn't mean to, Uncle Shawn." Jaylen added, sounding equally as miserable. "It was an accident."

Shawn sighed, leaning back on his heels. The stain was _mostly_ gone, and the smell was hardly even there at all. So he threw the sponge in the bucket and deposited the container in the broom closet after emptying it of the dirty water. He walked into the living room after washing his hands -thoroughly- and stood in front of the girls.

"Next time, don't let me let you talk me into doing something like that." He half-grinned, and the girls both stuck a thumb up. "Good. Now do you wanna watch a show, or go to sleep?"

They looked over at each other, then up at Shawn,

"Justin Bieber movie!"

His head fell and he sighed. What had he done? Was he being punished? Forced to clean up vomit, and now he has to watch a _Justin Bieber movie_? By the time the film was on and about fifteen minutes out, Shawn came to the conclusion that he preferred the puke cleaning. Luckily, though, another thirty minutes later, the girls were asleep. So he stood up as quietly as he could and switched off the movie.

"Oh, thank the mighty gods of pineapple." He sighed, slumping into the seat. He sat there for a while, staring at the ceiling. He was rather tired; otherwise he would have been _doing_ something. Instead, he just sat, staring in a bit of a haze. He was shaken out of his trance, though, by his phone vibrating in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw 'Jules' on the screen.

_How'd cleaning up the puke go?_

He sighed. Of course she knew. The moment he he'd told her 'pancakes', she knew that vomit would come into play. He sighed and tapped out a quick message before letting his phone drop on to his stomach. He sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day and looked over at Hazel. Who'd have thought that Shawn Spencer, the master of _not_ settling down, the commitment-phobe, the never-stay-in-one-place, Shawn Spencer… Would be so domestic? A wife of eight years, a six year and two month old, and a cozy house, _and_ a three-year phone contract instead of a monthly? Unheard of. Yet, here he was. He grinned at his daughter's sleeping form, and then his eyes traveled to Jaylen. A spitting image of Gus, she was. If Gus had been female, she is exactly what he would have looked like. He remembered when he and his best friend had late-night conversations by the light of the lantern in the back yard, talking about how they were never going to get married and they _definitely_ weren't going to have kids. Oh, the aspirations of children. The most important things to them then were candy, board games, baseball, and which girl they did or didn't have a crush on. Granted, those were the only things important to Shawn just ten years ago, but that's neither here nor there.

An hour later, Shawn was woken up suddenly by someone shaking his shoulder. Hazel was standing over him looking positively rotten.

"Daddy, I feel _really_ hot." She told him. "And my head hurts really, really bad." Shawn reached up and felt her forehead, and she felt even hotter than before. He sat up on the edge of the seat and reached to the table to grab the thermometer. After taking her temperature, he looked at the device in hands. He had to look at it for quite a while to be sure of what it said. Maybe it was broken? That had to be it. Because there's no way his little girl had a 104.9 degree fever.


End file.
